Need suggestions for a lawn mower

[aemeijers]

Well, I have partially changed mine a couple 2-3 times in five years. No drain plug, so you have to do the bit with tilting it over and balancing it on the milk jug to collect the old oil out the filler hole. I can only balance it like that so long, and I suspect not all is coming out, since it never takes the rated capacity to get back to the full mark. (Maybe 15 oz out of the 20 it says it takes.) Honda-engined red generic from one of the MTD brands, Yardman, I think. Gets maybe 60-75 hours use per year, depending on rain amounts.

So I suspect that if the mower burns or leaks oil, and you keep topping it off, you are doing about as much good as I did. This stuff I drain out is rather nasty looking. Now if I could just find a public drop-off site before the milk jugs disintegrate again. Good thing I keep them in a kitty litter pan now. (and no, you can't drain the mower into the kitty litter pan, without it spilling all over the mower.) It does start easier with fresh oil.

[The Daring Dufas]

I was in an AutoZone store one day when I saw a sign reading "We take used oil." I thought cool! I'll bring the old oil from my last oil change. When I went back to the store with my old oil to do my duty as a good citizen, the store clerk handed me a stack of paperwork from the EPA that demanded all information from me down to the description of the warts on my butt. This wasn't long after the EPA went gunning for everyone who had taken their old lead acid batteries to a place outside of Birmingham called The Interstate Lead Co. The EPA took the company records and got the names of all customers and demanded they pay millions for the cleanup of the contaminated site. Because of this, I suddenly remembered some weeds that needed killing.

TDD

[SMS]

Honda mowers are pretty expensive, but you can also get other brands that have a Honda engine. The most important thing is to only buy a mower with a Honda engine.

[Tony]

Here we have "convenience centers" were I take the trash to since I'm outside the city limits and don't have trash pickup. It's a fenced off lot with about 30 dumpsters to throw the trash into. They have a tank for used oil. If you have a garage that you go to for other than oil changes, they may allow you to dump it there. I'm looking for parts for a home made waste oil heater so I started saving my oil, but I hear that I can get as much as I want for free from local garages.

Up in PA a friend with a service garage heats the garage with waste oil using a heater made for that purpose.

[zimpzampzormp]

Why? I've never had any problems with Briggs. I mow commercially, and some of my mowers from 21" to 48" walk behind to 60" ztrs have Briggs. No problems in 10 years. Of course I maintain them diligently. My bread and butter so to speak.